I write about the Internet technologies and upstarts that are disrupting advertising and media faster than ever. I'm living this disruption, so I might as well write about it, too. I spent nine years as chief of BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau writing about the leading edge of technology and business, and I continue to do so for a variety of publications. Follow my posts here by clicking the "+ Follow" link under my name. You can also find me at my personal Web site RobHof.com, follow me on Twitter (robhof), Circle me on Google+, subscribe to me on Facebook, and email me (robert.hof@gmail.com).

I still stand by my advice, however, despite the record pre-orders. I continue to think that most people who own a smartphone purchases in the last year or two have no overriding reason to buy a new one so soon, and some good reasons not to. Nonetheless, it’s worth asking why so many people did anyway–and why a third of Americans want one:

2) The iPhone 5 is the right decision for a certain portion of smartphone buyers–easily millions in a market of hundreds of millions of them. As I wrote before, if you have a phone that’s more than a couple of years old, technology advances mean it’s about time to get a new one, and the iPhone 5 is a great choice, if not the only good one.

3) The new iPhone is a clear advance over the iPhone 4S, even if it’s not a revolutionary advance. It has high-speed 4G data capability, its screen is larger, and it’s noticeably lighter. All good.

4) Media hype. The dirty little secret of tech media is that anything written on Apple gets a lot of readership, even if it’s not positive–though it was hard to be too awfully negative on the iPhone 5. Sure, the Samsung Galaxy S III and other smartphones have more bells and whistles, but not enough more to really shame the iPhone 5, and the S III has its own shortcomings as well. And so that mostly positive iPhone coverage drove more interest in the new Apple phone, and record pre-orders. Nothing new here, but this dynamic undeniably gives Apple products a leg up on every other rival.

5) People don’t always buy in an economically rational way. If you’ve got a 4S with an unlimited data plan, you’ll be spending on a new device and paying more for data to boot if you buy the iPhone 5–a device that for all its improvements probably won’t change your life, your productivity, or your mobile communications or entertainment very much. Nothing new here either, but I still contend that many of the tens of millions of people who will snap up the iPhone 5 in coming months will fit this profile. And that’s not counting idiots who can’t tell the difference between iPhone models.

6) I’m actually an idiot, so why would anyone take my advice anyway? OK, I don’t believe that, but clearly a lot of commenters on my previous post do, so I feel obligated to mention the possibility that I don’t know what I’m talking about. Besides, I wanted to provide one answer that would satisfy all those rabid Apple fanboys.

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So, yes… you can resell your GS3 quite easily. People buy these phones because they can be easily unlocked for any carrier and jailbroken and used on any compatible Android OS someone has adapted for that phone — of which there are a lot of options.

Just did a search on eBay. If you filter out the “buy it now” options and just look at the auctions you can see the “real world” value consumers put on a product. The galaxy vibrant is selling for between $50-$80. The iPhone 4 $160-$247. Now that doesn’t mean the iPhone is better but that it holds its value much longer.

The alternatives assume that you are wise and clever and 2 that million purchasers are fickle and stupid.

Since I am one of the 2 million you were always on tricky ground.

So, why am I upgrading…

1) I use the phone a lot and am frequently entering text, as now. A large increase of the remaining screen area, when the keyboard is showing, is a big positive.

2) a significantly faster processor and more memory will make a big difference all round, but particularly for editing video, and yes, I do that on the phone. I’ll have a 64G this time.

3) I travel. The new phone will give me more coverage in more places.

4) since my old phone is in perfect condition and factory unlocked, I can get a good price for it now. iPhone ownership costs me ~$3 a week depreciation plus $16 per month for calls and unlimited data. That won’t change when I change the phone.

5) Size matters. So does weight. Taller, same width, thinner, lighter is a brilliant compromise.

6) I like to change the phone as the warranty runs out. That saves me money on an extended warranty.

7) The brighter screen will make a much better viewfinder.

No. I don’t believe that makes me a mindless fanboy. I guess you must just be an idiot after all.

1.) The Galaxy S3 has an even bigger screen than the iPhone 5. 2.) Reliable data about the comparison hasn’t really come out for the iPhone 5 vs GS3, but from what I’ve seen, it’s like 1590 (i5) to 1570 (GS3) (from some scoring system), where the iPhone 4S was scored 670ish. 3.)The GS3 has a longer battery life both while talking or on standby, so for traveling there’s a clear winner. I hate looking for charging ports at the airport. 4.) As I posted above, a 2 year old Galaxy phone sells for about $130 on eBay, iPhone 4 (2 years old as well) sells for $150. Both good prices. 5.) Size matters — GS3 wins. Bigger screen = more utility. Weight wise, the iPhone wins, but it’s also smaller. 6.) Warranties are the same. 7.) It’s hard to know who’s screen is brighter as that’s an obscure test.

I think, regarding the points you’ve made, that you are, in fact, a mindless fanboy, since you bought the phone without doing research. If one of your reasons was that you’ve spent $150 on apps for your iPhone and they can be transferred over to your new iPhone, that would be a sound reason, but everything you said leads me to believe you SHOULD want a Samsung Galaxy S3 or similar phone.

Actually you’re the mindless fanboy, ragging on someone and insulting him for his choice in telephone. Sometimes a product is more than the sum of its specs. One could counter the larger screen= more utility with “more apps= more utility”, “no viruses/malware= more utility”, “software integrated with hardware at the design level = more utility”. I think it really says something that iPhone users tend to really love their phones and Android users tend to really love trolling online forums to brag about their specs, as if to rationalize the laggy, buggy, clunky performance that Android tends to come along with.

Im getting the phone also and im not a fan boy people just like apple products this is with most people thought when the bought the phone .I have a ipod and a phone the ipod as the worlds best media player and now I can make calls from it so why shouldn’t people buy this.